On May 15 the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium, will host a series of panels under the heading “Opening the World Order to de facto States: Limits and Potentialities of de facto States in the International Context.”
The conference will be held under the auspices of UNPO along with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, a centrist coalition which is the third largest 3rd largest political group in the European Parliament. The hope is that by discussing the issues of unrecognized countries in a neutral setting, new aspects of democracy and good governance issues in the de facto states will be brought to light. The event is sponsored by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
So what is wrong with such a conference? Only that some of the most insightful speakers are missing. Pal Kolstoe, Scott Pegg and Dov Lynch are there. But notably absent are…
Peter Armstrong, foreign policy adviser to the government of Canada
Charles King, Assistant Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University (Washington DC)
James Jatras, former Republican Senate adviser on foreign policy
Carne Ross, former UN Security Council diplomat, and currently head of Independent Diplomat who works with Somaliland, Western Sahara, Northern Cyprus and Kosovo
Frank Engel, from Luxembourg’s Parliament and also NKR’s Honorary Consul
Samantha Power, Pulitzer Prize winner and foreign policy expert from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard.
Many of these names are not specifically “PMR-friendly.” But they know what they are talking about, and the more light we can shed on the real situation in Transdniestria, the better off everyone will be.
Also sadly missing from the guest list and from the panel are important analysts like …
George Hewitt
Barry Bartmann
Bruno Coppieters
Stuart Hensel (The Economist)
Mark Almond (BHHRG)
Ronald Hill (Trinity College, Dublin)
In summary, while such an event has good potential, the choice of panelists and speakers virtually guarantees that it will be a timid and weak affair. Simply because some of the most insightful names in the field are missing. And that is everyone’s loss.
And where is the Russian view represented? It seems wrong to not invite the world’s largest country, especially since four of the de facto independent countries are located smack right in its neighborhood.
carl
April 4th, 2008